Growth of unpaid internships probably illegal

Exactly.
If the place is full of kids that really want it – they'll beat the door down to work for free.

 

Agreed, but it is sad these kids have to do so. Even MLB.com recognized it was wrong to not pay its interns.

 

Oh I won't argue on that point.

 

Demand for full-time gigs is high, too. There's probably some enterprising young stud out there who'd do it for free, just to see his name in print. Or who's willing to put in 25 unpaid overtime hours a week, just because he wants to be part of the team.

It's illegal not to pay someone for work. Simple as that. There are rules for internships, and if you don't follow them, you have to pay your interns.

Doesn't matter if it's good for them, or if they want to do it, or if there's 1,000 applicants. There's a reason that the willingness of the employee isn't a defense against a violation of wage laws.

 

Periodically, the Labor Department takes a much greater/much lesser interest in this kind of violation.

Let's not get into why.

 

I'm not philosophically against unpaid internships, but in most cases they're against the law. It doesn't matter if there's a demand for them.

And if they're against the law, newspapers, who love to uncover corruption in other big, bad companies, shouldn't be looking to circumvent the law.

For it to be unpaid, it's supposed to be a situation where the intern is learning, not not doing work that benefits the company and not taking the job of someone who would otherwise need to be paid.

They're not supposed to be filing, doing clerical work, or getting coffee.

One of the big reasons against them is that it benefits richer people who can afford to take an unpaid internship at the expense of poor folks who can't afford to.

I'm surprised how many liberals on here are justifying the illegal, undemocratic, unpaid internships.

 

So they just get class credit.

Ass.

 

They're only going to get credit if they're learning. You can't have them doing clerical work and expect some school to give them credit so you don't have to pay them.

Look, I know that newspapers aren't doing well, but you don't think it's hypocritical that people who would demonize this behavior in other companies, are making excuses for it for newspapers?

It favors rich kids over poor ones, right? Do you disagree with that? So, why are people ok with that?

I thought we were trying to level the playing field.

Newspapers across america have advocated for higher taxes, healthcare reform, and other policies to, "level the playing field" and then they go and hire unpaid interns to do the job that was formerly done by a paid employee, and that favors rich kids over poor ones.

That's not leveling the playing field. That's bullshit and it's hypocritical. And it's hypocritical of liberals to enable it, or support it.

 

I took an unpaid internship during the fall of my junior year in college. Basically I was turned down for the paid summer spot, but the SE was very encouraging and he said he really liked my work, so I talked him into giving me the unpaid thing. My logic in doing it was that I wouldn't be getting paid to go to college that quarter, so what's the difference?

I can't argue with some of the reasons raised in this thread about why unpaid internships are bad. It did give me an unfair advantage because my parents could afford for me to do it. (Then again, life is full of income-based advantages, from birth forward.)

However, I certainly don't regret doing it. If I hadn't, I suspect I wouldn't have taken the subsequent steps in my career.

 

Did an unpaid internship one summer while in university. One of the biggest mistakes (among many) I've made. Took it when it was offered without thoroughly checking out what other options were available. Wouldn't advise anyone to do it.

 

The problem with unpaid internships is the overall effect. For all of you saying "demand is there, take advantage of it," think of it this way:

A trash collection company has an opening for a 40-50 hour a week gig. It posts it's job at $6 an hour plus bonuses. Let's say the job is in some place ravaged by unemployment, say Detroit.
100 people apply for the job, because, well, unemployment is running out and a shit-ton of people need some way to put food on the table.

They get down to three candidates, all with the same experience, age, etc., etc.

C1 and C2 tell the company individually they'll accept the position for the posted amount of $6 an hour.
C3 tells the company he's desperate for the job and he'll accept it for $4.50 an hour. In undercutting the other two, he's saving the company between $60-$75 a week. The company says great, we'll make it happen.

What the trash company and C3 have now done is affect the market much more than just one job. Trash company realizes it can get away with underpaying, so the next time it makes a hire, it realizes it can post the job at a lower rate, still get good employees and save a chunk of change in the process. It continues to grow.

That is part of the reason we have a minimum wage in this country. Businesses set their wage scales based on what they can get away with. Workers who help facilitate that are not only hurting others long term, they are also potentially hurting themselves by lowering the bar for future employment.

What Yankeefan said is spot on: Interns in newspaper, magazines, TV show, etc., are not simply "going to class" in a newsroom; they are working their asses off, contributing to the product and -- as was the case in both of my internships, a significant cog in the system.

Liberal, conservative, whatever. What happens when your paper scales you back to 37.5 hours, then 35 hours, then 30, then 29 (at which point you lose your benefits) because they realize they can load up the joint with unpaid/underpaid interns. Don't think your paper would ever do that? Ask yourself, then, why copy editors are getting axed left and right.

Don't contribute to the overall problem by accepting that unpaid internship; and don't contribute by thinking that unpaid intern is going to help you for more than the next five minutes.